US President Joe Biden on Monday reiterated that he would not quit the US election race, as the White House denied he had Parkinson’s disease following a disastrous debate performance.
The 81-year-old dared Democratic critics to either challenge him at next month’s party convention in Chicago or back him against former US president Donald Trump in November’s vote.
The president lashed out in both a letter to the US Congress and a rare call to a television program, at the start of a critical week that includes a NATO summit in Washington where he is to face fresh scrutiny.
Photo: Reuters
“I am firmly committed to staying in the race,” Biden wrote.
“It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party and defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s time for it to end.”
The embattled president followed up by phoning into MSNBC’s Morning Joe TV program to say he was “getting so frustrated by the elites” in the party.
“Any of these guys that don’t think I should run — run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention,” he said.
Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet since the debate, but he did speak out Monday on Fox News to say he thought Biden would resist the pressure and stay in the race.
“He’s got an ego and he doesn’t want to quit,” Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity.
However, even as he doubled down, the pressure mounted on the oldest president in US history. US Representative Adam Smith, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives’ Committee on Armed Services, became the sixth Democratic lawmaker to publicly say Biden should step aside.
“I think it’s become clear he’s not the best person to carry the Democratic message,” he told CNN.
However, other senior Democrats voiced support for Biden.
“I made clear that day after the debate publicly that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket. My position has not changed,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN.
The White House has also felt the pressure, with tense exchanges at a press briefing on Monday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for “respect” while journalists challenged her refusal to confirm reports that a Parkinson’s specialist visited the White House eight times.
The visits by Kevin Cannard, a neurologist from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where Biden receives his medicals, were recorded in publicly available visitor logs.
“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No. Is he being treated for Parkinson’s? No, he’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No,” Jean-Pierre said.
On Monday night the White House went so far as to release a letter from Biden’s personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor, insisting that the president had not seen a neurologist outside his three annual medicals.
The White House also denied reports that NATO allies attending this week’s 75th-anniversary summit in Washington had shown concerns about Biden.
“We’re not picking up any signs of that from our allies at all,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
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